Buick
Brief History
Buick Motor Company was founded by
David Dunbar Buick. He was born in 17 September 1854 in Scotland but his family moved to Detroit, Michigan when he was two years old. After he left the school in 1869 he started working for company which made plumbing goods. A few years later he and a partner took over the company. In 1899 David Buick sold the company and for $100 000 and began the first version of Buick Motor Company—Buick Auto-Vim and Power Company. The production was concentrated on building stationary engines for farm and marine markets, not automobiles.
During these years he invented the overhead valve engine
which he called—“Valve-in-Head”. With this new method of engine construction the output power was much more than the side valve engines. Now days every automotive manufacturer uses this technology. He also made many innovations in the ignition and carburetion and he produced only 2 automobiles till 1904 when the Buick Motor Company of Flint, Michigan became reality.
Despite this revolutionary invention David Buick soon run out of money and the struggling company was taken over by James Whiting in 1904. He brought William C. Durant to manage his new acquisition. 
Soon Buick becomes the largest automaker in the U.S. With the profits generated by Buick, Durant made several acquisitions and established General Motors in December 1908. Until 1910 he pulled more than 30 companies under the GM umbrella when he lost control over General Motors. He coupled with Louis Chevrolet and established Chevrolet Company in the following year and Durant used Chevrolet to regain control of GM in 1915-16. Once Durant was back in GM he hired Charles W. Nash as president of Buick. Then Nash had brought Walter Chrysler to Buick as works manager.
Six cylinder OHV engines were added to Buick’s production line and became standard in 1925. The lasting reputation of the make was set with the introduction of the straight eight engines in 1930. In 1936 Buick started replacing the numbered series with named perhaps the first of the Big Three to do so. The names of models were Special, Century, Roadmaster and Limited they become one of the best-known names in auto industry. Four years later 1940 appeared the Super series. In 1938 the famous Harley Earl created the Buick Y-Job, which inaugurated the trademark Buick waterfall grille design of 1942 and subsequent models. A remarkable styling feature of Buick cars is the three or four portholes or vents on the front fender behind the front wheels dating from 1949. The source of this feature was custom car made by Ned Nickles.
The year 1955 was the biggest boom of auto industry up to then, Buick gained third place in sales behind Chevrolet and Ford. In 1959 the sales dropped and the sales were one-third of 1955 record—738 000. The traditional model designations were replaced by new names—LeSabre, Invicta and Electra. The Special name returned on a compact car with an aluminum V8 in 1961. The following year Buick offered the first V6 in Special, which won the prize “Car of the Year” of Motor Trend magazine. In 1963 was introduced Riviera. The sales was in rise in 1960s and hit the record 821 165 sold cars in 1973 model year.
The oil crisis cause drop in sales, which totaled fewer than 500 000 in both 1974 and 1975. Another Buick model—Riviera S Type won the prize “Car of the Year” in 1979. Over one million Buick cars were sold worldwide in 1984 and the following year was the second best year of the company. 1986 and 1987 Buick Regal GN and GNX were marked as quickest American build cars. They were powered by turbocharged 3,8-liter V6 engine.
The Buick models of 80s and 90s didn’t leave such trace in American automotive history like the models of 50s and 60s. They were not that attractive for the buyers, which preferred Japanese or European cars and the company continued to lose its market share. Company’s lineup began to consolidate in 2005—replacing Century and Regal with LaCrosse and LeSabre and Park Avenue with Lucerene in 2006. Both SUVs—Rendezvous and Rainier will be replaced by Enclave. The slow selling Terraza minivan will be discontinued too. This will leave the marque with only three models by 2009.
Remarkable dates in Buick's history
1923: Buick builds its one-millionth car
1927: Buick is GM's premium division and most popular seller.
1927: Harley Earl named head of GM's Art and Color Department, the first department of its kind in the industry. He introduces the concept of clay modeling to automobile design, a technique still used today.
1933-37: The popularity of models such as the Special, Century, Roadmaster and Limited causes Buick to increase production from 47,000 cars to 220,000.
1937-38: Harley Earl's “Y Job” is recognized as the industry's first concept car. The idea of the “Dream Car” emerges within the industry as an essential sales and marketing device.
1950-51: With its “aircraft” styling, Harley Earl's LeSabre concept car sets the design trend for America's “classic” 50's era automobiles.
1953: Buick builds the limited-edition Skylark for its 50th anniversary.
1953: Harley Earl's Motorama, the world's first autoshow, debuts in New York City.
1959: Buick introduces LeSabre, Invicta and Electra. In honor of the three new names, the “tri-shield” logo evolves from an emblem based on the Buick family's Scottish coat of arms.
1963: The Buick Special is introduced featuring the first U.S. mass- produced V6 engine.
1963: The “modern classic” Riviera debuts as a sporty, stylish coupe. Harley Earl retires. Since 1927 his Design and Styling Department has grown from 50 to 1,100 employees.
